Box Score

BELLINGHAM (Feb. 25) -- Sophomore Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) and senior Sara Bergner (Bellingham) combined for 30 points, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team suffered its sixth consecutive loss with a 70-48 defeat at the hands of 21st-ranked Western Washington University on Thursday night at Carver Gym.

The Wildcats fell to 6-17 overall and 3-10 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while the Vikings improved to 21-4 and 11-2 in the GNAC.

Central gained its only lead of the game on its opening possession, as junior Brittany Duerr (Bellevue/Newport HS) scored to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. Western went ahead on a conventional three-point play two possessions later, and the Vikings never trailed. Central was down by as many as 20 on three separate occasions in the opening half before trimming the deficit to 16 at the break on the team's first made three-pointer of the game -- by Russell -- with 23 seconds left.

Russell's trey started an 8-0 Wildcat run that they carried over to the second half, closing to within 11 points at 37-26 with 18:07 left, but no sooner did Central threaten for a single-digit deficit did the host Vikings double their advantage. A 12-1 Western spurt over the next 4:40 pushed the margin to 22, and the shorthanded Wildcats ran out of gas the rest of the way.

Facing one of the conference's top defensive teams, Central struggled offensively with a season-low 27.5 percent shooting from the floor. The Wildcats had almost mirrored shooting numbers in each half -- 7 for 26 in the first and 7 for 25 in the second -- and made just 3 of 19 three-pointers for the game. CWU did convert on 17 of 23 free throws (73.9 percent), outshooting the Vikings narrowly at the charity stripe (72.7 percent).

Bergner, a Bellingham product playing her final collegiate game in her hometown, was arguably Central's most efficient shooter on the night, making 4 of 9 from the floor and all four of her free throw attempts.

Western Washington, the third-ranked team in the NCAA Division II West Region, had three of its starters score in double figures. Jessica Summers had game-highs of 20 points and 19 rebounds, the latter number a career-high in that department. Megan Pinske added 19 and Willow Cabe scored 11 for the Vikings.

Central Washington will play its final away game of the 2009-10 season on Saturday night, visiting 19th-ranked and GNAC-leading Seattle Pacific. The Wildcats will then close out the campaign with consecutive home games next weekend against Saint Martin's and Montana State Billings on Thursday (Mar. 4) and Saturday (Mar. 6), respectively, at Nicholson Pavilion.